5 ways to stay safe for first time e-banking users

With the ban on Rs.500 and Rs.1000 the general public are increasingly opting for e-wallets and online transactions to take care of their daily needs. Paytm recently reported a whopping 1000% growth in money added to its wallet, and 400% growth in transaction values of offline payments. While people going cashless is a good thing but it opens them to risk of cyber security issues. F-Secure’s Head of Asia Pacific (Corporate Business) Amit Nath gives first time e-banking users tips to keep in mind while indulging in online transaction:

1. Protect your Passwords: People use common passwords for a number of transactions (including net banking). Here are some of basic password protection tips:
• Choose a strong password filled with numbers, symbols, and lowercase/uppercase letters.
• Change your passwords every 3 to 6 months. The more often, the better.
• Don’t allow your system to store the passwords for shopping and banking sites.

2. Always Shop on SSL Protected Websites: Look for the lock, you should never ever purchase anything online using your credit card from a site that doesn’t have a pre-installed SSL (Secure Socket Layer) encryption at the very least. You need to ensure whether a particular site has SSL or not. You’ll know if the site has SSL just by looking at the URL of the site that must start with HTTPS:// (instead of just HTTP://). Also shop at a trusted site rather than shopping with a search engine (especially when you drift past the first few pages of links).

3. Smartphone Specific Safety: Since majority of India’s population deal in Internet via, the smartphone software too needs to be updated to avoid exploitation of security loopholes. Here are some other tips:
• Use a pin, password or pattern to lock your phone and download apps only from trusted stores.
• Download your bank’s verified application on the mobile device instead of using the browser. If your bank’s app is not available and you have to use a browser, remember to clear your cache after visiting your net banking account to make sure that no one else views the confidential information.
• Banking applications should ask for a login password each time you log in. If you find any unusual behaviour, report it to your bank immediately.
• Always opt for OTP since an OTP is more secure than a static password, especially a user-created password

4. Install latest security software: The best way to protect your device from the plethora of malware, spam and spyware on the internet is to use good antivirus software.

5. Avoid using public computers and Wifis to do transactions: Data leakage is a glaring reality and no system is completely impenetrable. Whenever shopping through public computers, opt for the cash on delivery option, if you cannot avoid it in the first place.

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